World Criminal Court Rejects Probe Into U.S. Actions In Afghanistan

The judges at the International Criminal Court said that the probe would be "inevitably doomed to failure." It's a victory for the White House, which has spoken out against an investigation.

by Merrit KennedyApr 12, 20193 minutes

A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court has rejected a request to proceed with investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly involving U.S. armed forces and the CIA.

This is in response to a request from ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017, a prospect that U.S. officials have strongly criticized.

In their unanimous decision , the judges said that the prosecutor's request is and the crimes are of sufficient gravity for it to consider the case. But it said that it was ultimately rejecting the request because "the current circumstances of the situation in Afghanistan are such as to make the prospects for a successful investigation and prosecution extremely limited."